BEIRUT — A powerful car bomb killed a prominent Lebanese politician critical of Syria and its ally Hezbollah, hitting his SUV Friday as it drove through a ritzy business district near Beirut’s waterfront, shredding trees and scattering glass and twisted scraps of metal across the pavement.

Allies of the slain politician, former finance minister Mohammed Chatah, indirectly blamed the Shiite Hezbollah group for the bombing, raising tensions between Lebanon’s two main political camps at a time when the country’s factions are at odds over the civil war in neighboring Syria.

The morning explosion echoed across Beirut and threw a pillar of black smoke above the city’s skyline. The force of the blast punched a nearly 2-yard wide crater in the street, set at least three cars on fire and shattered windows in office buildings and apartment towers up to a block away.

The 62-year-old Chatah, who was also a former Lebanese ambassador to the United States and a senior aide to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, was killed along with his driver and four others, the National News Agency reported. The Health Ministry said at least 70 people were wounded.

In a statement, the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council condemned the attack and “reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of any attempt to destabilize Lebanon through political assassinations.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the bombing was reminiscent of a string of assassinations of around a dozen members of the anti-Syrian Hariri camp that shook Lebanon between 2004 and 2008.

Security officials said the car that blew up in the attack Friday was rigged with up to 130 pounds of explosives, and parked along Chatah’s route.

Chatah’s death marks a serious loss for the pro-Western camp in Lebanon. The 62-year-old was a prominent economist who once worked at the International Monetary Fund in the U.S. and later served as Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. He later served as finance minister when Saad took over the premiership and stayed on as his senior adviser after he lost the post in early 2011.